A Thousand Year Reign—Lent 36, 2022

If you want to get into an argument with a theologian,
this next passage is a tutorial.
* * *

Revelation 20:1 And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain.  2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.  3 He threw him into the Abyss, and locked and sealed it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

Uh, set free? Why on earth would anyone do that?

 4 I saw thrones on which were seated those who had been given authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or their hands. They came to life and reigned with Christ a thousand years.

When is that?

Frankly I don’t know… and see?  This is what happens in a pixelated view.  According to Osborne, “Three positions have often sorely divided Christian groups.  To take them in chronological order, premillennialism … amillennialism … and postmillennialism.”  Big words and he goes on to define them. 

But I want us to read the lines of Revelation, not between them. 
Here’s what it says (NIV translation which I nearly always use for readability):

Revelation 20: 5 (The rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were ended.) This is the first resurrection.  6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. The second death has no power over them, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him for a thousand years.  7 When the thousand years are over, Satan will be released from his prison 8 and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth– Gog and Magog– and to gather them for battle. In number they are like the sand on the seashore. 9 They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s people, the city he loves. But fire came down from heaven and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.

Thoughts for today:

Big picture: Satan gets bound, gets freed to finish his work of deceiving people to Armageddon, and then gets destroyed.

Big picture: God’s people are protected whether the first resurrection or later when God rescues them from being outnumbered and surrounded in the city He loves.

Big picture: there is freedom, joy, and the blessing of reigning with Christ for those who are blessed and holy.

Big picture: eternal torment awaits the evil threesome: devil, beast, and false prophet.

In what way can we be more encouraged by focusing on the big picture than by getting caught up in the speculative detail?

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Categories Articles and Devotionals, Devotionals | Tags: | Posted on April 12, 2022

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